GoldenTree Partner Behind Firm’s Crypto Expansion Set to Leave: Report

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Long-time partner Joseph Naggar, who was highly influential in GoldenTree Asset Management’s expansion into crypto investments, is set to leave the company.

The Blockreported on Wednesday that Naggar’s exit is set to leave GoldenTree’s crypto unit in a period of uncertainty, with two anonymous sources quoted as being unsure as to whether the unit would still exist.

GoldenTree notified investors about Naggar’s forthcoming departure several weeks ago, as per one source. Both sources indicated that Naggar played a pivotal role in driving GoldenTree’s foray into the crypto space, helping the company make investments in numerous crypto startups.

GoldenTree is now exploring different options for the future of its crypto division, including the possibility of spinning it off, according to the same sources.

Naggar’s name is notably absent from a GoldenTree webpage that lists members of the Executive Committee, a position to which he was appointed back in 2011.

GoldenTree is a prominent New York-based asset management company that manages a portfolio exceeding $51 billion in assets, according to its website. GoldenTree specializes in various credit opportunities, encompassing high yield bonds, leveraged loans, private credit, distressed debt, and more.

Naggar became a part of GoldenTree in 2007, assuming the role of partner and head of structured products. Prior to joining GoldenTree, he spent a decade at Morgan Stanley, where he held the position of managing director in the bank’s Global Principal Credit Group.

GoldenTree made its first investment into the crypto space in 2021, and has currently participated in 26 deals, according to data from The Block Research. The company’s crypto portfolio encompasses investments in various entities such as Ledn, Anchorage Digital, Stader Labs, Trust Machines, and Ondo Finance.

In a March 2022 announcement, the firm announced that its partners had been individually involved in personal crypto investments for several years, and that the company saw “an attractive and increasing opportunity set that can be captured in GoldenTree’s opportunistic strategies.”

Naggar said at the time that the digital asset ecosystem was becoming “increasingly relevant” for institutional investors.

“Having invested personally in the asset class for years, there is an increasingly well-developed infrastructure as well as a growing continuum of opportunities that lend itself to active management,” Naggar said. “I am confident GoldenTree’s rigorous fundamental and relative value driven process, as well as our robust risk management infrastructure, will position the firm well to deliver differentiated returns in the asset class.”

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